In this new collaboration, celebrated choreographer Ronald K. Brown and acclaimed pianist Jason Moran bring together their respective ensembles — Brown’s Evidence Dance Company and Moran’s Bandwagon jazz trio — for the world premiere with live music of The Subtle One. Set to a musical suite of the same name, this potent new work reflects on the presence of our ancestors and their profound impact on our lives. The Subtle One is paired with selections from Brown’s One Shot, based on the extraordinary life of photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris, who documented the life of one African-American community over a span of forty years; One Shot is set to music by Ahmad Jamal and Mary Lou Williams, played live by the Bandwagon. Opening the evening is Brown’s Grace, one of the most popular works in the repertory of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, a rapturous depiction of a journey to the promised land set to recordings by Duke Ellington, Roy Davis, and Fela Kuti.

Hailed as a “modern dance savior” by the New York Times, Brown fuses the form and rhythm of African dance with contemporary choreography. Brown finds an ideal collaborator in Jason Moran — a composer, bandleader, MacArthur Fellow, and recent GRAMMY nominee — whom TheLos Angeles Times describes as “a startlingly gifted pianist with a relentless thirst for experimentation.”

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— A Conversation with Ronald K. Brown & Jason Moran —
On Tuesday, February 17 at 7PM, Duke professor and dance maker Thomas F. DeFrantz will moderate a conversation at the American Dance Festival's studio (721 Broad St.) with celebrated choreographer Ronald K. Brown and MacArthur Fellow jazz musician Jason Moran. The conversation will examine the careers of the two noteworthy artists and their forthcoming music + dance collaboration, The Subtle One, which premieres Friday, February 20 & Saturday, February 21, at Reynolds Industries Theater.

PROGRAM:Grace
•••"Poinciana" (music by Ahmad Jamal) from One Shot (with Jason Moran & The Bandwagon) "Free Spirit" (music by Mary Lou Williams) from One Shot (with Jason Moran & The Bandwagon)"Bellows" (music by Ahmad Jamal) from One Shot (with Jason Moran & The Bandwagon)
•••The Subtle One (with Jason Moran & The Bandwagon) — world premiere with live music

Made possible, in part, with a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council, and support from the Dance Program at Duke University.